CarConnect from T-Mobile Austria is turning cars into connected vehicles

Includes a Wi-Fi hotspot for the car – passengers can surf and stream as though they were at home

Integrated journey logging solution also suitable for business customers

It’s not just new vehicles that can be smart cars. From November 13th, 2017, cars built in 2006 or later can be turned into connected vehicles as well thanks to the CarConnect stick and its associated smartphone app. This will enable telemetry services for every brand of car, irrespective of the manufacturer. Via a wireless local area network integrated in the stick, the car becomes a mobile hotspot for its passengers.

A glance at the CarConnect smartphone app provides useful information such as the battery status, error codes or where the car has been parked, and sends an alert in the event of damage to the car or it being stolen. Should error codes arise, the problem is explained and details of the nearest garage displayed. Additional functions include the real-time depiction of a journey, which is then saved as a traveled route. If the car is being used by a third party, the app can report when the car has arrived.

“T-Mobile isn’t just connecting people but, from now, their cars as well. The unique part of our offer is the manufacturer-independent compatibility with all car brands and the combination of telemetry and a WLAN hotspot. We’re providing owners of older cars with the chance to turn their vehicles into smart cars and, at the same time, into a mobile hotspot. This is of interest for families in particular. It’s now easy to surf and stream in cars as well,” says Maria Zesch, T-Mobile’s chief commercial officer.

Get started with the right tariff
The T-Mobile offer consists of two CarConnect tariffs. For purely telemetry services, the “My CarConnect Start” tariff, costing €3.49 per month without any obligations, is the right choice. With this tariff, the CarConnect stick costs a one-off payment of €149. Those who want to go up a gear and use an additional 6 GB LTE WLAN opt for the “My CarConnect WLAN” tariff for €8.99 per month, which has an obligatory term of 24 months and an annual flat service fee (€22). With this tariff, the stick costs a one-off payment of €72 or monthly installments of €3 for 24 months. Telemetry services are included in this tariff. If heading off on holiday or if a greater data volume is required, additional data packages of between 500 MB and 10 GB can be purchased at any time without any additional obligations. Both tariffs are capable of EU roaming and can be combined with the FamilyBytes package for HomeNet, thereby giving the in-car WLAN an additional 20 GB as a data pool for free. In addition, both tariffs come with a two-week money-back guarantee and are free to activate. The CarConnect app for iOS and Android smartphones is also free.

The CarConnect stick is inserted into a car’s ODB port (on-board diagnostics port) which is usually located beneath the steering wheel. The exact location of the port depending on the car model and whether the car is compatible with the CarConnect solution can be checked at www.t-mobile.at/carconnect.

CarConnect as a smart solution for business customers
In addition to CarConnect’s offer for private customers, the solution, which is certified by the Rheinland branch of the German Association for Technical Inspection, is also well-suited for small and micro enterprises that want to use a digital journey logbook. Using the smartphone app, journeys can be identified as private or business trips and then exported as a PDF or Excel file.

Canadian-European partner
CarConnect is powered by the connected car solutions of the Canadian start-up Mojio, which has its own branch in the EU.

“With affordable in-car Wi-Fi and instant mobile access to valuable vehicle data, including diagnostic, behavioral and location information, T-Mobile CarConnect empowers customers to make data driven decisions about their cars,” said Mojio CEO Kenny Hawk. “We’re excited to partner with T-Mobile Austria and look forward to our continued collaboration to make driving smarter, safer and more convenient.”